There are two ways of funding your challenge; minimum sponsorship (option A) or self-funding (option B).

Option A – Raising a Minimum Sponsorship

You pay the Registration Fee to Global Adventure Challenges and then raise the minimum sponsorship for Breathing Matters. You can set up a Justgiving Page from our home page (https://www.justgiving.com/breathingmatters)

You send 80% of the minimum sponsorship and pledges for the remaining 20% to Breathing Matters at least 11 weeks prior to the departure date of the Challenge.

Breathing Matters will be invoiced by Global for the balance of the Challenge 10 weeks prior to departure.

All outstanding sponsorship should be sent to us within six weeks of completing the Challenge. We would be grateful if you could try and raise as much as you can over the minimum sponsorship target as every penny of this is what Breathing Matters will receive. The more you raise, the more research work we can do and the more your challenge will have been worthwhile.

Option B – Self-Funding Option

You send the Registration Form to Global Adventure Challenges, together with the Registration Fee.

Eleven weeks prior to departure, an invoice will be sent to you for the cost of the Challenge.

Although there is no minimum sponsorship target for this option, we would encourage you to raise as much as possible for Breathing Matters (via https://www.justgiving.com/breathingmatters). Once again, the more you raise, the more research work we can do and the more your challenge will have been worthwhile.

It’s another New Year, so it’s time for some self-improvement. Have you made New Year’s resolutions before, but failed to keep them? I would argue that a resolution is too restraining and negative, I would prefer to focus on adopting habits that keep you healthy. Let’s concentrate on the smokers amongst you. You know who you are? Have you tried quitting before or have you persuaded yourself that your genes will protect you from the ravages of cigarettes?

First, think of why you should stop smoking and then, when you have decided to (and this might be the difficult step), take the first teeny weeny step. You do not have to throw all your cigarettes away for good – although that might be one approach. Take a small step, develop a new habit and, once it is taken, you are on the road to being an ‘ex-smoker’. Keep taking little steps that help you develop little habits and you will achieve your aim.

Take Small Steps

What small steps can you take? Try these:
1. Develop a disgust for cigarettes. Spend 5 minutes each day imaging the toxic smoke filling your lungs and turning them black, and large globs of fat being deposited in the blood vessels of your brain, heart and legs. The surgeon teeing you up for an amputation operation, etc. Remind yourself of this every time you smoke.

2. Toss a coin each day. Heads you smoke that day, tails you don’t. Or, if that is too difficult, ‘tails’ you don’t smoke until midday or something similar. Keep this going for a year and you may reduce your intake by 50% (provided you don’t smoke twice as many on the smoking days). On smoke-free days, have a shower, wash your hair, put on clean clothes and enjoy the fresh smell that you exude.

3. Take fewer draws from each cigarette (you are going to have to be honest here).

4. As an incentive, you could get yourself sponsored for giving up smoking and help a charity at the same time – a ‘Charity Quit’, if you will!

5. Make the first step to getting expert help. You can get excellent help from the following:

No matter how small your first step, it is a first step and it will be difficult – if it wasn’t, everyone would do it. Keep in mind the pluses of being an EX-smoker. Reward yourself for even a small achievement (not with a cigarette please).